Dr. James (Jay) Herrmann MD, a dermatologist who has served thousands of patients on 16 mission trips to Bolivia, received Solidarity Bridge’s highest honor—the 2019 Solidarity Award—at our annual gala on May 4.

The Oncological Surgery Team is on day four of its eight-day Mission Trip at the Cancer Institute of Eastern Bolivia in the city of Santa Cruz. On Sunday, we met with our partner physicians to finalize the five-day surgical schedule. On Monday, we completed the first three surgeries, including two laparoscopic hysterectomies for women with cervical cancer and an excision of multiple neurofibromas in a patient with Von Recklinghausen disease.

After a week of interviews with medical staff at the Santa Bárbara Hospital in Sucre, it became clear to the Solidarity Bridge mission team that this was the right place for a long-term partnership to advance neurosurgical care. The team was impressed with the scope of the need, but also with the professionalism and commitment of the Santa Bárbara nurses and physicians who serve an incredible volume of patients in spite of significant equipment and human resource limitations.

The Solidarity Bridge team presented a proposal for a long-term, collaborative initiative with the Santa Bárbara Hospital focused on advancing neurosurgical care. Recognizing that the actual surgery procedure is just one part of the process, the proposed initiative would also seek to engage the many pre-, intra- and post-operative areas that are integral to the care of the neurosurgical patient.

The Neurosurgery Mission team will land this weekend in “La Ciudad Blanca” (the White City), which is the nickname bestowed on the city of Sucre, Bolivia, thanks to its many beautifully-preserved, white-walled, colonial-style buildings

“[I]n the context of today, when so many walls are being constructed in the world, how would you like to build a bridge? The bridge is being built; it's under way. How would you like to add to that, to cross that bridge and share the talents and gifts and expertise you have?” - Fr. Bob Oldershaw